I often think Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino’s hard work gets lost because of the goalscoring talents of fellow frontmen Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

But the Brazilian’s work-ethic and ability to create and finish off chances is superb. It seems to be even more obvious when you look at his Champions League performances.

Since the start of last season, Firmino has contributed to nineteen of Liverpool’s goals in Europe’s elite club competition, through goals or assists. No other player in Europe has a better record during that time.

This term Roberto has started twice and appeared once as a substitute in UEFA’s premier competition, scoring two goals.

In a tough group like Liverpool’s, you need your best players to show up and Firmino has the knack of producing at the right times!

Usually the Brazilian international will find pockets of space in deeper positions and be the forward that chases and closes down. He works for the squad and isn’t as bothered as the other two to be the main man scoring the goals. Because of his willingness to run and go deep, he’ll find that he gets more touches of the ball compared to Salah and Mane. That’s been the case in the two Champions League games in which he’s started this term against Red Star Belgrade and Napoli.

Roberto also beats his strike partners when it comes to making more passes and having a better passing success rate. The attacker also makes considerably more tackles than the other two.

It seems in Europe in particular, defences struggle to keep Firmino in check. All of his ten European goals last season came from inside the opposition penalty area and the vast majority came about because he was able to intelligently peel away from his marker at the last second, allowing himself to gain that extra bit of space to put away the chance. It also proves that he is willing to get into the box when the ball is in the final third.

He also usually takes his chances first time and keeps his shots low, giving the opposing goalkeeper little chance to prepare for the effort. Although Roberto also managed to score two with his head, showing us he’s decent in the air too.

His recent form hasn’t seen him at his best, Firmino has only scored once in his last nine Liverpool outings (obviously that was in the Champions League).

But Reds boss Jurgen Klopp doesn’t believe that the Brazilian star needs a rest nor does he think his lack of recent goals is a big deal for the club:

“It will be all fine for sure. If he didn’t score in the last few games then… one in nine? All competitions? Didn’t he score against Red Star? That was the one goal he scored? Okay, good.”

“I am not concerned. Things like this happen. He is a very important player for us.”

Now maybe Roberto Firmino does need a bit of a timeout but I doubt Klopp would drop him for a Champions League clash nor in an important Premier League fixture.

The forward has proven time and again that he’s player for the big occasion and that he gives his all for the team’s cause. Don’t be surprised if he scores against Red Star tonight as the Anfield side chase down a route to the next round of the competition!

Posted on November 6th, 2018 by scott
Filed under: Article